String instrument



(No Model.)

T BR E T T. STRING INSTRUMENT.

No. 601,788. Patented Apr, 5, I898.

IE'IE'T.I

WITNESSES (704mm W z mfidpww ATTORNEYS.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS BRETT, OF GENEVA, OHIO.

STRING INSTRUMENT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent NO. 601,788, dated April 5,1898.

Application filed June 26, 1897- Serial No. 642,380. (No model.)

T0 to whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THOMAS BRETT, of Geneva, Ashtabula county, Ohio,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in String Instruments;and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it pertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in string instruments, moreespecially to pianofortes, in which one end of the string is secured toso-called hitch-pins and the other end is secured to an adjustabletension-bar, which is located in close proximity to the bridge, so as toprevent any material vibration of the string between the bridge and thebar or its point of attachment to the bar, and thus do away with anyovertone when playing.

My invention also relates to the construction of the framework, which isof metal, in connection with the piano-bridge and sounding-board.

My invention consists in so constructing the tension or tuning devicesas that the point of attaching the wire to the tension-bar is such thatin the first place the distance between the bridge and the point ofattachment of the wire to the bar is very short, and the direction giventhe wire between the bridge and its point of attachment to the bar issuch as to keep the wire at all times on the bridge and at the same timeallow the wire when being'tightened or loosened to easily ride or slipon the bridge, thus making it possible to attain a more even pitchwithout liability of overstraining or overloosening the string, which isoften the case when too much pressure is exerted upon the bridge .by thestring. I also in my device do away entirely with the pressure-barusually employed for keeping the strings down upon the bridge.

In the drawings, Figure I is a view in ele vation of the string-frameand wooden block or back of a piano. Fig. II is a section of the metalframe, illustrating more clearly the construction of that portion of theframe to which the tension devices are secured. Fig. III illustrates insection the portion of the metal frame illustrated in Fig. II, and alsoshows the mode of attaching and operating the tension devices and themode of securing the metal frame at this part to the wooden frame of thepiano, and also the manner of locating the bridge and the constructionof the same. Fig. IV is a detached view illustrating a set oftension-levers which operate upon the tension-bar and engage thetensionscrew.

In the drawings I have shown my invention as adapted to an uprightpiano, but it is obvious that it may be and is intended to be used inconnection with a square or grand piano, or, in fact, a harp or otheranalogous instruments.

A represents what is known as the straining-frame, to which the stringsare secured at one end by means of hitch-pins, a set of which are shownto the left in Fig. 1.

B represents a set of strings, one set only being shown in the drawings.

0 illustrates the bridge.

D illustrates the tension-bars.

E represents the tension-levers, which engage the tension-bars and theadjustingscrew.

F illustrates the adjusting-screw.

As shown in Figs. II and III of the drawings, that portion of thestraining-frame to which the tension devices are secured and in whichthey are operated is provided with a ledge A, in which the screws Foperate. This ledge A is preferably strengthened 011 its back or rearside by means of a flange A Another flange A is also provided, theforward end of which forms a seat for the tension-bar D. This seat ainclines upward and rearward, thus causing the tension-bar and thestring attached thereto to move in sucha way when the string istightened as to cause the said string to closely hug the bridge, andinasmuch as the lovers E when in the act of tightening the string moveupward and backward the tension-bars are kept snugly to their seats.

a illustrates a shoulder which is formed upon the flange A This shouldera acts as a seat for one arm of the tension-lever E. The lever E isprovided with three arms 6 6 6 The arm 8 engages and is operated by oneof the screws F. The arm 6 engages the shoulder a, which acts as afulcrum for the lever E. The arm 8 engages the hooked end 61 of thetension-bar D. It will therefore be seen that as one of the screws F isdriven inward it will engage with and force inward the arm 6, and thelever E being fulcrumed at c the arm e tends to pull the tension-bar Dupward and backward, thus tightening the string and keeping it seated onthe bridge. The reverse operation of this screw will reverse the actionof the lever E, bar D, and string B, or, in other Words, the string willbe loosened and the pitch of the tone lowered.

The bridge 0 of my piano is located close up to the forward end of theflange A at that part nearest the seat a. This bridge is entirelyconstructed of wood and is provided at its upper end with a metalbearing-bar c, as is usual. To the rear of the metal bar or bearing-barc I prefer to locate a strip of felt or analogous material 0', whichacts to prevent any possible vibration or overtone of the string betweenthe bridge 0 and the point of attachment of the string to thetension-bar D. It will be noticed in Fig. III that bridge C is slightlyforward of the forward end of the tension-bar D for the purpose, alreadyexplained, of keeping the string to its seat on said bridge.

In the usual construction of pianos one end of the string is secured toa metal framework by means of the so-called hitch-pins. The other end ofthe string is wound around a tuning-pin, the latter being driven intothe wood and the wood made fast in some manner to the metal frame. Theobjection to this mode of tuning has been that the wood would swell andshrink, according to the moisture or dryness of the atmosphere, and theresult would be a change of the tone of the instrument; also, it wasdifficult to adjust such tuning-pins with the required nicety inasmuchas these pins after having been in use for sometime would becomeloosened in the wood and when driven in would stick in the wood to suchan extent as that upon the application of the wrench instead ofattaining an equal gradual turning of the pin, and thus an equal gradualstraining of the string, a jerk or sudden movement of the pin was theresult, thus giving the string a higher pitch than was necessary, andupon loosening the string or turning the pin in an opposite directionthe reverse was the resultthe toneof the string was lowered too much.Another objectionable feature to this mode of securing and tuning thestrings has been the location of the tuning-pins in relation to thebridge so that it was necessary to apply a pressure-bar between thetuning-pins and the bridge both to hold the string down upon the bridgeand prevent what is known as overtonethat is, a vibration of the stringbetween the bridge and tuning-pin. Other devices and arrangements havebeen tried to obviate the difficulties just before mentioned, but havefailed to accomplish the desired result because of the fact that therewas more or less friction to be overcome in connection with the strainof the string, and the greater the strain of the string the more thefriction on the parts which operated to tune the instrument.

In constructing a piano according to my invention it will be seen byreference to Fig. III of the drawings that I reduce the friction to aminimum and that the only sliding friction of the parts is between theseat a and that part of the tension-bar bearing directly thereon. Itwill be noticed that my tensionlever E is free from friction at allparts excepting at its fulcrum a, and inasmuch as these levers areseparated so as to be free one from the other there is no side frictionbetween them. Hence a very even and gradual tightening or loosening ofthe string is obtained and the tension may be increased or decreased tothe smallest fraction.

In regard to the structure and location of the bridge 0 and its relationto the tensionhead of the metal frame A it will be noticed that the headof the frame A, which contains the tension devices, is formed with aflange A This flange A is directly connected to the wooden block or backby means of suitable bolts or screws a said bolts or screws beinglocated at the rear of the flange A passing through said flange and intothe wooden framework of the back. By this construction the usualvertical flange, as illustrated by dotted lines in Fig. I and markedG,is entirely done away with, and the bridge C can thus be moved upclose to the tension-bar and will rest either upon the wooden frameworkof the back, as shown in Fig. III, or upon an extension of thesounding-board, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. III and indicated bythe letter H. By this construction the bridge rests or bears entirelyupon the wood back or frame of the piano, which is a desirable featureon account of the tone imparted to the piano and doing away entirelywith the necessity of having the string rest upon a metal bridge, as isusually the case where the vertical flange G extends as shown in dottedlines in Fig. I.

l/Vhat I claim is-- 1. In a musical string instrument, the combinationwith a metallic straining-frame, said straining frame being providedwith fulcrumed levers, one arm of said levers engaging and operating astraining-bar to which the strings are attached and another arm engaginga screw whereby the said levers are operated, substantially in themanner and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination with a straining-frame, of levers mounted in saidstraining-frame and fulcrumed therein, said levers being operated byadjusting-screws and operating in turn to control the tension of thestring by means of a straining-bar to which the strings are attached,substantially as and for the purpose shown and described.

3. The combination with a straining-frame and a series ofadjusting-screws connected therewith and operating therein substantiallyas indicated, of a series of three-armed 1evers, one of the arms of saidlevers operating as a fulcrum-point, and engaging in the straining-frameanother arm actuated by the adj ustin g-screWs aforesaid, and the thirdarm operating the straining-bar and through it controlling the tensionof the string, substantially as and for the purpose shown and described.

4. The combination in a musical string instrument, of a straining-framefrom whence the tension of the string is controlled, said frame beingsecured to the wooden frame or back of the instrument at the end of theWooden frame, and a bridge in close proximity to the straining-bars,said bridge resting directly either upon the sounding-board or upon theWooden frame of the instrument,

substantially as and for the purpose shown and described.

5. The combination With the string-frame of a piano of a metallicstraining-frame, provided With suitable straining devices controllingthe tension of the strings, said strainingframe being provided With aflange A for securing it to the string-frame, and bridge 0 located inclose proximity to the strainingframe, substantially as and for thepurpose shown and described.

In testimony whereof I sign this specification, in the presence of twoWitnesses, this 8d day of June, 1897.

THOMAS BRETT. WVitnesses:

W. E. DONNELLY, ELLA E. TILDEN.

